Installing the Client on Solaris 11

As a prerequisite, all Solaris agents must have the SUNWlibC package installed.

Starting from BigFix Version 9.5.13, you can install the Solaris 11 client using a .p5p client package format by performing the following steps:

Download the corresponding BigFix client package file to the Solaris computer.
Copy your actionsite masthead to the Solaris BigFix client computer (the masthead contains configuration, license, and security information). The action site masthead (actionsite.afxm) can be found in your BigFix Installation folders (by default they are placed under C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES Installers\Client on Windows and /var/opt/BESInstallers/Client/ on Linux). If the masthead is not named actionsite.afxm, rename it to actionsite.afxm and place it on the computer at the following location: /etc/opt/BESClient/actionsite.afxm. The masthead file for any BigFix server can also be downloaded at http://servername:port/masthead/masthead.afxm (example: http://bes.BigFix.com:52311/masthead/masthead.afxm).
Note: You might need to create the directory /etc/opt/BESClient/ if it does not already exist.
Before installing the .p5p client package, as upgrading from the old SVR4 packages is not supported, ensure that no previous agent is already installed by running the command:
```
pkginfo BESagent
```
If necessary, remove the old BigFix agent before installing the new one with the command:
```
pkgrm BESagent
```
If the computer is not a global zone or is a global zone without children, you can directly install the new agent (.p5p client package) by running the command:
```
pkg install -g <path to package file>/BESAgent-<...>.p5p BESagent
```
Otherwise, if the computer is a global zone with children, you must create a permanent repository and set the publisher, for example by running the command:
```
pkgrepo create /var/opt/BESClient_solaris_repo 
pkgrecv -s <path to package file>/BESAgent-<...>.p5p -d /var/opt/BESClient_solaris_repo BESagent 
pkg set-publisher --search-first -p /var/opt/BESClient_solaris_repo
```
Then, you can install with the command:
```
pkg install BESagent
```
The --search-first option is needed to avoid that other, not available, publishers might cause issues.
The created repository is also available for the children. Therefore, there is no need to create it on the non-global zones.
Note: You can install on the children using the -r option. For details about the -r option and other command options, see https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E36784_01/html/E36870/pkg-1.html

Uninstalling the client

To uninstall the client, installed using a .p5p client package format, run the command:

pkg uninstall BESagent

This command can be used for uninstalling both on a global zone or on the local zones.

Note: You can uninstall on the children using the -r option. For details about the -r option and other command options, see https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E36784_01/html/E36870/pkg-1.html

Upgrading the client

Upgrading manually from a client installed using the old SVR4 package to a new client with the .p5p client package is not supported.

You can upgrade the Solaris 11 client by running the Fixlet named Updated Solaris Client - BigFix version 9.5.X Now Available!

Troubleshooting the upgrade

When upgrading the BigFix Client on an Oracle Solaris 11 local zone using the IPS package, the action might fail, with the /tmp/BESClientUpgradeFixlet.log file on the local zone showing the following error message:

Cannot enable or disable a system publisher

The error might be due to a corruption of the BigFix publisher in the Oracle Solaris zone environment.

The pkg publisher command executed on the global zone does not show any BigFix publisher, while executed on the local zones shows the status disabled,syspub.

As a workaround to solve this issue, try one of the following options:

If not already done, submit the Updated Solaris Client - BigFix version 9.5.14 Now Available! Fixlet to the global zone. Wait for the action to complete.
Only when the action completes, submit the same Fixlet to the local zone(s).
On the global zone, run the command:
```
pkg set-publisher --enable BigFix
```
Check the publisher on the local zone(s) to verify if the "disabled" status is no longer shown.
Try upgrading the local zone(s) again.
Uninstall and reinstall the client on the local zone(s).

Troubleshooting the uninstallation

After running the pkg uninstall BESagent command, you might receive the following error message:

DESC: A service failed - a method is failing in a retryable manner but too often.
AUTO-RESPONSE: The service has been placed into the maintenance state.
IMPACT: svc:/BESClient:default is unavailable.

Despite the error message, the client is correctly uninstalled. You can ignore it.

Known limitations

Limitation 1

The Image Packaging System (IPS) does not support product directories symbolically linked. When using symbolic links, the package installation fails with the following error message:

pkg: Requested operation failed for package pkg://software.bigfix.com/BESagent@.........
Cannot install '.....'; parent directory ...... is a link to ........
To continue, move the directory to its original location and try again.

Limitation 2

Uninstalling the IPS package moves the files added after the installation under $IMAGE_META/lost+found

Where the default value for IMAGE_META is /var/pkg

As a side effect, a subsequent installation of the agent will result as a new one (different ID, lost cache), unless you manually restore the files from $IMAGE_META/lost+found to /var/opt/BESClient before you perform the new installation.